When Present echoes Past
by tailsthefox92
Summary: Book 1 of Secrets revealed. It started out as a normal day with some training, before escalating into a much bigger problem. Now Sonic and Shadow have to work together to undermine the plans of some tricky tyrants. Not everything is what it seems though, as Sonic's dreams begin to blur into memories and present events. Sonadow in later chapters.
1. Transportation

Attention! This story will later be **Sonadow**! In the beginning sonic+shadow friendship. No Lemon or Lime will be in the story! Knuckles+Rouge couple. Possible Tails+Cream.

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the most agile and graceful fighters on all of planet Mobius. For good reason too, when you've been fighting against robot's that give you split seconds to catch your breath and fire bullets that go off mere centimeters from your head since you were eight you have to adapt quickly.

"Don't put so much power behind it! Do you want to destroy this whole damn field?!"

The cobalt and peach hedgehog stopped in his tracks and glared dryly at the black and red hedgehog that was training him to use his chaos powers better.

Shadow the Hedgehog was one of the few Mobians, possibly only, that could match up to him in speed. While Sonic relied on speed, agility, grace, and quick thinking, Shadow relied on strategy, strength, and his chaos powers, along with a few underhanded tricks.

After the events with Solaris and Mephiles the two had met up again and had somehow struck up a strange friendship after a couple fights and races. It might have been partly due to the fact that they were the only ones who remembered what had really happened since Silver had left and their super forms had protected their memories.

"Can you tell me what I'm supposed to do then?!" Sonic shot back as he walked forward towards the dark hero.

Shadow sighed and also walked towards his younger friend, "I'm not sure. Your powers are completely different from mine. Maybe if we combine them for a minute I can figure out how they work."

For a few seconds he froze before nodding. Two clicking sounds and a light flashed through his senses. Feeling something on his wrists Sonic looked down.

Circling around his thin peach wrist was a golden cuff. He looked up again towards Shadow.

"If I have both on I can't come into contact with anyone else's energy. It was a caution in case I went crazy. What I've learned how to do though is connect with someone else completely if they're wearing one of mine. Now put your hand against mine like we're time-traveling."

Sonic nodded.

Carefully Shadow poked and prodded until he was able to find the power. Most of it was… warm and inviting, while another smaller amount was cold and angry. Every cell was filled to the brim with chaos, along with another powerful energy he didn't recognize.

Sonic meanwhile was almost asleep when he noticed a strange swirl around their hands. His eyes opened more before… "Shadow… what's that?"

Red eyes snapped open and stared where light green and yellow energy was swirling around their hands and clinging to the fur beneath their gloves.

"Sonic…"

"Yeah Shads?"

"Promise me you'll stay safe."

Now almost wide-awake emerald eyes stared back into red ones, "Why? What's going on?"

"Our energies are completely different; they're mixing. I don't know if we'll time-travel or dimension hop. Just try to keep a reign on your emotions that's where your powers come from."

Sonic nodded and gave Shadow a small smile, "Don't worry 'bout me buddy. I'll be okay."

"I promise Sonic," Shadow began with his own small smile, "I will find you."

Silently the light expanded and engulfed the hedgehogs before collapsing and leaving an empty field.

XXxxXX

In another world completely unknown to theirs and unaware of theirs as well two hedgehogs were fighting to what seemed to be to the death.

The first was a cobalt and peach colored hedgehog with a silver medallion hanging from a string around his neck.

The second was a black and red hedgehog with a nasty smile and a red symbol on each white glove.

"Give it up Blue!" Shadow roared as he drove a glowing fist towards the younger boy.

Sonic quickly dodged and watched as a tree snapped in half on contact. A wince appeared as he imagined what would have happened if that had been him instead.

The black and red prince took advantage of the few seconds of shock and ran behind the blue, kicking him square in the back. Just as he was rising from the ground he'd been pushed to, a punch to his stomach made him fly back into a tree.

"You're weak!" Another punch, "You're helpless!" A punch to the jaw, "And I'm going to make sure you're dead!"

Just as he was about to deliver a chop to the neck to end the younger one a green swirl appeared and circled around his hand. Looking at the other he noticed that a yellow one was doing the same on his.

A few seconds later the bruised and fighting hedgehogs disappeared and two passed out, unharmed ones appeared in their place.


	2. stolen identity

'W-where am I?'

"Your own mind Sonic."

"Tikal?"

The scene around him changed from the pure black to a large room. The Master Emerald was floating above it's pedestal while the seven smaller Chaos Emeralds floated on their smaller ones around it.

It was an old looking room like the one where he had seen the prophecy of Super Sonic and Dr. Robotnik fighting on Angel Island.

Floating gently in front of him was a light orange echidna with light blue eyes and a green skirt with white diamonds and a white shirt.

"Hello Sonic."

He looked around for a few seconds before gesturing to around them, "W-what happened? How did I get here?"

Tikal gave him a small smile and pressed her hand to his forehead. Immediately the memories came rushing back, training with Shadow, almost hitting him with a wind spear, the strange light, and then Shadow's promise.

Tikal gave him a sad smile, "Right now you're passed out in a small village getting treated for any wounds you had. You're in another world right now, and I need you to do something…"

"What is it?" His head tilted to the side while his ears perked up in curiosity.

Tikal giggled, understanding why so many people underestimated him as a fighter. "You need to try to pretend to be the other Sonic. I'll stay around so I can help you out once in a while. Now you need to wake up."

Slowly the room changed from the old pyramid to the ceiling of a house.

Carefully he sat up and was relieved when he didn't get dizzy or feel pain. Turning his head from right to left he looked around.

The house was simple, a couple cots were on either side of his empty, and like the plain ceiling the floor and walls had not been painted so they were still their natural brown color. On one of the walls was a small cupboard that was open to reveal simple medical supplies and a sink beneath. Sitting in a chair at the opposite wall was a pink hedgehog that reminded him very much of his friend Amy Rose.

She had the same pink quills and even hairband, but she was wearing different clothes, instead of the bright red dress she was wearing a white t-shirt with a pink heart on the front and a pair of blue jeans.

"Hello?" He tried as his voice came out barely above a whisper.

Apparently it was enough to get her attention because the hedgehog stirred before opening her eyes. Jade green eyes widened as she saw the blue and peach hedgehog awake and she stumbled over her own feet tripping as she tried to get up quickly.

Instead of meeting the ground hands wrapped around her upper arms and pulled her to a standing position. Sonic stood in front of her smiling with a twinkle in her emerald green eyes.

"Careful there. One hurt hedgehog's enough I think."

"R-right I'm sorry. I d-didn't see, I didn't mean…"

"Calm down." Sonic said as his smile turned softer, "There's no need to apologize. You tripped, it happens to everyone."

The pink hedgehog smiled though she now looked confused, "Thank you Prince Sonic. You are very forgiving."

His mind froze for a few seconds as he heard the word 'prince' connected to his name before remembering that Tikal had said to pretend to be this world's Sonic.

"No problem. What's your name?"

"Amanda Rose, though most call me Amy. It's an honor to meet you Prince Sonic."

Sonic wrinkled his nose for a second at the title, "You can just call me Sonic ya know. Anyways can you tell me what happened?"

"You were found unconscious in the middle of dark forest hidden under the roots of a tree. You were only found because one of the scouts tripped over your leg. Speaking of which how are you felling?"

"Besides like I just woke up? Fine. Is it okay if I go for a walk?"

Amy blinked, surprised at being asked a question by someone she considered above her, "Of course. It's your decision."

"Maybe so." Sonic said as he rummaged underneath the bed searching for his shoes, he felt weird without them on. "But you're the doctor and I don't wanna make ya mad or myself worse if I'm not completely well."

Amy smiled as Sonic pulled on his shoes, "You are fine. Everyone in the village is glad you've returned from your journey. Especially your brother and sister."

Sonic froze and Amy could only watch as the completely well, should be fine, hedgehog collapsed to the floor in a faint.

XXxxXX

Miles away in a large castle a black and red hedgehog had just woken up as well. He'd noticed how everyone around him was always nervous and skittish, rushing off as soon as possible, but had attributed that to a regular occurrence. Back home everyone except for Sonic and his small group of friends had been terrified of him.

Silently he studied the scene outside of the window in front of him. Below the castle a small village lived that looked poor and dirty from what he could see. A large dark forest seemed to be creeping towards the edge of the village.

Hearing the door open and close he turned around angrily with his red eyes fixed into a glare only to stop when he saw the last thing he was expecting. A black hedgehog with darker red stripes and maroon colored eyes wearing a black cape with a crown on top of his head had just entered the room.

He smiled at the hedgehog by the window and Shadow noticed that the other was taller than him.

"Shadow, my son, I am pleased you are all right. I was rather worried when a guard brought you home." He paused and gave another small smile, "I really am sorry. I forgot that you probably don't remember anything. The doctor explained to me that you managed to get amnesia."

Shadow nodded firmly seeing a way to find out everything he could about this world, having decided he'd been transferred to another dimension when no one had demanded to know who he was.

"Come with me and I'll explain everything to you then."

Shadow followed the other hedgehog as he left the room and began walking down a long hall. It was rather dark and dreary with wooden boards as stairs whenever they came to them was the only change from the dark rock that made up the palace.

"I am Black Doom, your father, named after your grandfather. I am half alien which makes you a fourth alien, a species called Black Arms. When you were young, to keep you out of the war, I had sent you away to a family friend of ours, the Robotniks. There Gerald Robotnik and his granddaughter Maria Robotnik took care of you. One year ago when you turned fifteen you were sent back here to assist in the war."

"May I ask what war you're talking about?"

Black Doom gave a small smile, "My apologies. We are against war against another country called Mobodoon. Truthfully my father started it, but by the time he passed away we were already too deep to turn back. Queen Aleena continued the fight in her father's place; she has two children that have been assisting her in the fight ever since their father left. A rumor has been going around that there was a child that was born chosen by Chaos that is returning to assist them in the war. You had left to find out if the rumor was true."

Shadow nodded, most of the story actually made sense to him.

"By the way. One of the guards was able to find your other cuff."

Shadow took the golden cuff from the other hedgehog's hand with a sinking heart. Was it possible that he had actually gotten amnesia and to make up for the missing space his mind had come up with a story?

His hopes were bolstered up when the cuff didn't gleam as it snapped on; it wasn't his.

XXxxXX

Sonic had woken up again and managed to get out the door without anymore shocking news. Silently he cursed his surprise.

He'd fought Chaos, been turned into a werehog, traversed other dimensions, been sucked into storybooks, for Chaos-sake he'd been killed by a shadow! And yet the idea of having a family had shocked him.

Ever since he could remember he'd been alone, having woken up hidden underneath a tree and fending for himself, until he'd found his own family, meaning a young two-year-old kit that he raised and an echidna with anger issues that had tried to kill them multiple times.

Shaking his head to get rid of his thoughts he saw a small fox with two tails sitting away from the other kids.

Silently he walked over and watched as the boy attempted to carve into a black of wood. He looked exactly like his younger brother Tails. Suddenly a small hand slipped and the tool went shooting towards his other hand.

Quickly Sonic's hand shot around a thin wrist and stopped both the hand and tool in their flight path, "Careful." He mumbled to the other as he adjusted the tool, "If you damage your hand this early you'll have a hard time doing stuff like this."

The fox looked up with shocked blue eyes, "T-thanks mister."

Sonic smiled, this reminded him of first meeting his brother, "My name's Sonic. What's your's?"

"My name is Miles Prower… Wait a minute Sonic… You're Prince Sonic! I'm so sorry I didn't know."

Sonic chuckled and rolled his eyes before plopping down next to the panicking boy, "Calm down and enough with that prince junk. Just call me Sonic." After getting a nod he continued, "Do you need some help? No offense meant but you don't know what you're doing."

Miles blushed and looked at his hand, "I'm trying to learn, but no one ever taught me."

Sonic grinned as he carefully adjusted the sharp tool in the fox's grasp, "Well than I'll teach ya. Now what do you want to carve?"

Miles blushed harder as he grew embarrassed, "It's just a dumb idea I had. Most people can't fly and I wanted to make something so that they can." Saying this he pulled a piece of bark towards them and showed the blue hedgehog.

Sonic grinned as he looked at the picture. A very good diagram of the plane he had made as a kid was staring back at him, the tornado.

"Well then kid you're gonna need some help. How 'bout I help ya build this thing."

Miles smiled towards him, "I'd like that. Thank you… Sonic."

Sonic chuckled as he helped the fox, "Sure thing. Now what you wanna do is keep your other hand out of the way at all times in case you slip again…"


	3. sink or swim

"Heya little bro!" A voice called.

Both Sonic and Miles froze in their steps as a light green hedgehog with orange eyes walked towards them. The two of them had finished carving the model for the bi-plane, which would soon be the first of it's kind and had been off to collect supplies to build it.

Miles had taken the liberty to show him a swamp he had discovered in the forest that had many plants. One of which was carki, a Mobian plant that was like a combination of reeds and bamboo.

They had decided to build the frame first after Sonic had remembered what had happened the first time he built one and carki seemed like the perfect supply.

Sonic was balancing a large pile in his hands with a small piece he had taken to make into a flute hanging on a string around his neck, while Miles was balancing as many stems as he could in his small paws.

"Wow! That's a lot of wood. Could you set it down for a second?" The voice called again.

Sonic set down his pile and helped Miles to do the same. Immediately he was tackled to the ground and sat on as the other hedgehog began to give him a noogie, miraculously avoiding his razor-sharp quills.

"I haven't seen you since we were eight you jerk." The weight was lifted from his back as the other stood and helped him up, "Come 'ere little bro."

Sonic stepped forward awkwardly and was quickly pulled into a strong hug. He stiffened and his quills rose, before relaxing and carefully returning it, "Hey… bro. Been a while."

"I know. Me and Sonia are really glad you're okay."

Sonic gave a small chuckle, "I'm glad you're okay too."

"Hey! Who's this?" Manic asked as he let go and faced the small fox.

Sonic grinned and got down on his knees as he grabbed one of his friend's shoulders, "This is my new best friend, Miles."

Manic smiled and held out a hand, "Nice to meet you Miles. Call me Manic. What are you two doing with all that wood anyways?"

Sonic smiled as Miles burst into a proud grin, sure that since one hedgehog had liked his idea another would too, "We're going to make a plane, so that other people can fly too!"

Manic chuckled, "How about I lend a hand as well? I don't get to get my hands dirty much."

XXxxXX

"Well hello there handsome."

Shadow turned towards where the voice was and saw a face he knew very well. Rouge the bat smiled at him as she walked forward.

She looked the same except for her clothes. Instead of the tight body suit she usually wore, she had on a light purple shirt with sleeves that got wider near her hands and black jean-shorts.

"Hello." Shadow answered back with a small smile before deciding to copy a phrase both Rouge and Sonic said often, "Long time no see."

Rouge smiled and chuckled, "You know how it is. Being a nurse in the castle is a fine job, but it's much harder than being a jewel thief."

Quickly Rouge looked to the left and right before grabbing Shadow's arm and dragging him outside, "I just have to tell you something! I know you have amnesia, but I can still trust you to keep quiet right?"

Shadow chuckled lightly and nodded, "Even if it was a murder no word will come from me."

Rouge smiled and blushed lightly as she sat down, "Well, you know how much I like jewels right?" Shadow nodded and she continued after he sat down as well, "A few hours ago I met a treasure hunter. I'd gotten caught in one of a poacher's traps when I was searching for jewels and he was going to get rid of me so that I couldn't say who he was. And then HE showed up! He punched the guy and carried me off. He put me down near the town and before he left we talked. I asked why he'd rescued me and he told me 'that guy doesn't know how to treat a lady.' He even asked me on a date with him!"

Shadow smiled and nodded, "So why do you want it to be kept a secret?"

Rouge sighed and frowned, "That's the problem, I don't, but he supports Queen Aleena's side, supposedly they've got a new advantage because of him."

Shadow 'hmmed' and leaned back, "That is a problem. What is it? And who managed to catch your heart?"

Rouge gave a small smile, "The treasure hunter is Knuckles the echidna, and the advantage, there's been rumors that it's supposed to be the wind itself… Shadow? … Shadow?"

The name fell on deaf ears as Shadow stared out towards the Dark Forest for a few seconds before disappearing into it, there was only one person he knew that could be described like that.

XXxxXX

"Look at you three! Covered in dirt! And what's this? Splinters and metal shavings! All three of you go to the river right now and wash that off!"

Sonic grinned as his brother chuckled.

Right now all three builders were being reprimand by their older sister Sonia. She'd taken quite well to the young fox as well and had no problem with Sonic either. No, what she had a problem with was how dirty everyone had come back. She was a pink hedgehog, slightly darker than Amy, with dark pink fur between her ears, along with light blue eyes. She wore a red tank top and a purple skirt.

"Go on! Get!"

Sonic yelped when she smacked him in the back between his quills not used to anyone touching him there. Not wanting a repeat he disappeared outside in a streak of blue with Manic and Miles following close behind.

Manic smiled as they walked through the forest the small village had claimed as it's own, "She's really glad you're back bro. I haven't seen her this loose and playful since we were kids."

Miles grinned as well as he took the hand of the hedgehog he was starting to view as a guardian angel since no one had picked on him since he'd shown up, "Yeah! And everyone else is happier too! Even Amy is acting like a kid again."

Sonic chuckled, "I just try to make people happy. Seems like it's working."

"Hold on bro." Manic said when they reached a pond next to the river and Sonic was about to climb in, "I wanna take you to one we haven't been at since we were kids."

Sonic tilted his head before smiling and nodding.

The trio walked a few hundred more feet until they reached a pool glowing light blue.

"Ma brought all three of us here when we were four. Following our dad's instructions she put you in the pool so that it would take away one of your powers to protect you. Ma was gonna give 'em back to you when you came back, but she's not here so it's my job."

Sonic nodded nervously, "So I just step into the pool?"

"That's all. You have to go all the way under though."

Sonic frowned and gulped. He still couldn't stand going all the way under water very well, even though he was better at it since his friends had helped and a few giant robots forcing him in. Plus his cover would probably be blown since he was pretty sure he had all of his powers.

After taking off his shoes and gloves he stood at the deep end and took a large breath. Squeezing his eyes shut he stepped off the edge and fell into the deep, warm water, praying that there wasn't any type of sea monster in there since he seemed to have such bad luck with those.

After two minutes passed when he didn't come up Miles started struggling against Manic, "Let me go! He's drowning!"

"You can't drown in that pool." Manic said calmly though his eyes showed worry, "You can breath in it. My only concern is that Sonic is panicking down there."


	4. trespasser

Trapped.

The world flew to mind as he sunk towards the bottom of the pool of water. He couldn't swim, he couldn't get back to the surface. The bottom of the pool was a light green crystal-like glass and the water was empty as far as he could see.

'Maurice, run! Get to safety!'

Memories flashed into his head of G.U.N soldiers dragging away an adult blue hedgehog with brown hair towards a boat, of leaping into the water when he was shot at, waking up on an island… alone.

Sonic shook his head to clear it and desperately tried to swim towards the surface only to sink closer to the bottom.

His feet seemed to sink into the floor as he struggled more; the water began to swirl around him reflecting the light in all directions.

He was losing air…

Suddenly the light dimmed and the whirlpool disappeared. In the pitch black Sonic walked along the floor until he came to a wall and began to climb. Out of his vision a small green crystal attached itself to his right arm clinging on as he climbed higher towards air.

Reaching land he quickly collapsed against the ground as his vision disappeared. Slowly his senses left, the last one being his hearing. In the background he could hear a young voice yelling.

Shadow huffed and pushed aside another branch that got caught in his quills. Quickly he glanced down at his golden cuff to see it glowing, having left the fake one at the castle, which meant that he was near a large source of Chaos Energy.

Usually this meant he was near an emerald, but in the past few weeks on their world he'd found that his younger blue friend had enough energy to make his own react as if an emerald was nearby. While an emerald would be nice… he was hoping this meant he was close to Sonic.

Reaching a large cliff that expanded for all directions Shadow growled quietly. If he used Chaos Control to go around, there was no telling when there'd be a chance to replenish that energy.

Deciding to rest for a few moments he picked out a spot on the wall that looked smooth and leant back against it.

The next few seconds were a blur for the hedgehog. The wall seemed to dissolve against his back as he found himself falling backwards in the dark.

The seemingly solid stone melted at his touch (or his flailing limbs) until he landed in lit area covered in hay.

Poking his head out and glad that Sonic was not there to see how he looked he quickly shook and brushed the hay out from his quills before standing and walking out of the cavern.

Purple, glowing crystals on black stone were replaced with light green grass and an open field. Huts rested, huddled together, at the opposite side of the field while part of the Dark Forest protected the other side. Treading on the ground Shadow walked over towards where he could see Mobians going about their business. If he was lucky they would have found Sonic and the two could find a way to get back home.

Upon reaching the town he found that most of the kids that were outdoors were small children or their older siblings. A small boy rabbit that slightly reminded him of Cream saw him and stared for a few seconds before racing towards a nearby hut, screaming like he was about to be killed all the while.

A few adults who had stayed home to work in their houses popped their heads out of their doors to see what was going on, only to immediately duck back inside or grab their kids and lead them to the forest quickly.

"Prince Shadow…" Shadow turned and saw a dark pink hedgehog with light blue eyes glaring at him, "You and your kind are not welcome here."

Shadow huffed and raised an eyebrow, "My kind? That's not very nice. Why am I not welcomed here? You can't be blaming me for what my grandfather and father have done."

The hedgehog glared angrily, "I don't make judgments like that. I'm blaming you for nearly killing my brother!"

Right after the accusation Shadow had to dodge to the left, as a vine seemed to come to life as it flew towards him. His red eyes widened as he saw more flying towards him. 'She's an elemental!'

Maria had once told him legends about Mobians called elementals that could control the water, wind, fire, plants… almost anything not made by man. However to his knowledge G.U.N had made sure they all died out, easily done because of how few were around, G.U.N didn't seem to exist here though.

A vine wrapped around his leg catching him off guard as he stumbled and fell onto the ground.

An arrow whizzed past his head barely missing its mark. Spinning as he stood he saw Amy Rose's counterpart glaring at him with another arrow at the ready.

The two were about to attack again when a call suddenly came from the forest.

"Sonia!"

Turning again to check for another threat Shadow saw what looked like Tails along with a green hedgehog racing across the field. Neither of the two caught his eye though when he saw a blue hedgehog hanging limp in the green one's arms, a golden cuff glinting in the light.

XXxxXX

Sonic.

Immediately the threat of a Black Arm, much less their _prince_, flew out of her mind as she saw her youngest brother being carried into the village unconscious for the second time in the past two days.

"Sonic."

The whispered name from the Black Arm prince beside her brought her attention back to the real world.

Ignoring him again she started to run towards her brother. He vanished in a streak of gold as she reached the three boys.

"What happened?" She asked as she took the blue boy in her arms. Something hard hit her in the arm and she saw a golden glowing cuff link attached to his left wrist… it was the same as the black hedgehog from earlier.

Placing that out of her mind for now she focused on what Manic was saying, "…he came out he just collapsed and we hurried here."

She nodded and walked towards his old hut, "If I remember correctly this happened the first time when mother took his powers away. He should be fine after a good night's rest."

XXxxXX

"Hurry, Sonnie boy!"

Let a frown sneak its way onto his face he clung harder to the taller hedgehog's wrist as he attempted to stop tripping. Heavy metallic footsteps made his ears swivel as he turned his head to see a large robot coming towards them. When the older one stopped he tugged at the hand and scowled, why wasn't he moving?!

"Sonnie, I need you to run. Find your father and get off the island."

He scowled harder and yanked again as tears formed at the corner of his eyes, "Uncle Chuck, we gotta go."

He couldn't just leave him behind like this. He was important, somehow, and needed to come. If he came things would turn out differently, he knew it.

"Run!" The light blue hedgehog commanded firmly as he gave him a small shove. Going along with the push he rolled underneath a bush and held absolutely still as the heavy steps stopped.

A gunshot rang out and the sound of something hitting the ground followed after. Once the robot's steps disappeared he shot out of the bush and towards the seaside. Now he had to leave, or his uncle's sacrifice would be for nothing.


	5. Nightshadows

In the middle of the night a black form leapt down from one of the trees near the huts and made it's way silently to the window of the hut Sonic was taken to earlier.

Shadow the Hedgehog slowly opened the door and walked into the room silently. The room was rather plain with the old oak boards still showing. A bookcase sat at one wall with the bed on the wall next to it. The bed was simple with a red heavy blanket draped over the top of the blue hedgehog beneath.

Shadow smiled softly as he walked over and sat on the bed by his friend's side. Gently he pulled a peach arm from beneath the blanket. The golden cuff on his friend's wrist made his smile grow as he tucked the other back in.

Once he had stood up again Shadow placed his hand on a blue forehead and closed his eyes, "Chaos… Heal!"

A flash of green engulfed the room before vanishing to reveal a groggy blue hedgehog.

Sonic frowned at his blurry vision and rubbed his eyes before looking again. A dark chuckle met his ears as he did so making them perk up and him sit up straighter. Opening his eyes again he saw a black hedgehog with red streaks and red eyes.

"S-shadow?"

"It's me Faker. Go back to sleep, your body still needs to catch up with the healing process. I'll be here when you wake up."

Sonic frowned before nodding and lying back down. He scooted over and patted the bed next to him; "You'll get cold on the floor."

Shadow smirked and nodded before climbing on top of the covers and lying down. In a few minutes both black and blue were asleep.

XXxxXX

Shadow blinked and opened his eyes as a ray of sunlight shone on his face. With a silent growl towards the sun he turned his head away from the light.

The sight immediately brought back memories from the day before. Transporting with Sonic, Black Doom, the war, Rouge, and finding Sonic passed out.

Said blue hedgehog was now resting silently in the bed with the top of his head in the crook between his arm and side and one peach arm stretched over his stomach and frankly looking rather… cute. Looking at him now Shadow would never guess that this was the same hedgehog that had beat him in battle many times.

Laying his head back on the pillow Shadow huffed and watched as a cloud of vapor appeared in front of him before vanishing.

The blue hedgehog next to him had always managed to catch his attention. Just when he'd thought he'd managed to figure him out the hero would do something completely opposite that dashed everything he thought he knew to pieces.

For instance after Sonic's birthday he had a fight with Eggman in Station Square. Just after that a bunch of lawsuits had suddenly appeared towards him, for property damage, injury, even for simply disturbing the peace. Apparently the humans never took time to realize without him how much _more_ property damage there would be, how quite a few of them would be _dead_, and how little _peace_ they would have if Eggman captured their city.

Instead of growing upset or even pouting a bit he had just… vanished along with the fox-kit. Only his friends could ever find him and Tails now, and only when he wanted them to. Eggman still was stopped, but the only sign of him being anywhere near the area would be rumors and whispers. For a few days after Eggman was stopped the wind would blow around the area with a vengeance, before disappearing for a month without a single breeze. One of the more popular (and more wild) rumors among the humans was that he'd finally run so fast that he became the wind instead of just acting like it.

No matter what happened he would simply take it in course and run with it.

That was one of the things that fascinated Shadow, Sonic had had the weight of the world on his shoulders many times, and yet he acted like it was a game.

Feeling Sonic shift next to him brought him out of his thoughts as he turned his attention to the younger one.

The peaceful look had disappeared to be replaced by a frown accompanied for a second by a whimper.

Frowning slightly as he realized that Sonic was having a nightmare he reached out a hand to rest it on top of his head where fur started to turn into quills before ruffling the area slightly.

Quickly Sonic stopped squirming and fell back into a peaceful rest, Shadow soon dropping to sleep as well.

XXxxXX

The next time Shadow woke up was to the sudden sound of something shattering.

Immediately he sat straight up in the bed and focused on where the sound had come from.

The pink hedgehog he'd fought before was standing in the doorway staring at him in shock and a broken bowl was on the floor by her feet with a light brown substance, most likely soup, on the floor around it.

Her shock turned into anger as she straightened up and opened her mouth to say something. Whatever it was, was never heard because at that moment the dark hedgehog vanished with a streak of gold behind him, into the dark forest and back towards the castle.

XXxxXX

Sonia rushed over to her brother ignoring the shards of pottery lying around on the floor. Flipping the blanket off of him she sighed in relief to find that he had no injuries, in fact it looked as if the Black Arms prince hadn't harmed him at all.

She frowned and walked out the door to get another bowl of soup for when he woke up. She could question him then.

XXxxXX

Black and blue merged as the two fought. When one would kick the other would jump, when one would try to strike with a hand the other would duck. They were equally matched and had been since they'd woken up the afternoon before. Both however, were wearing down, scratches and bruises visible even through their fur.

"Would you stop fighting?!" Prince Sonic screamed suddenly, "Can't you see we're in a different place?"

Prince Shadow lowered his fist and glared at the blue prince, "Than what do you suggest we do?"

He breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the Black Arm was willing to listen to him, "I think we should find someone to help us find out where we are, and perhaps a place to stay."

Shadow glared for a few more seconds before nodding and spreading one arm out, "Than lead the way."

Sonic smiled and nodded. A few minutes later the two were walking side by side and could've been mistaken for allies when Sonic suddenly stopped and held a hand to his chin in thought.

"What?!" Shadow snapped as he turned to see that the other had stopped.

Sonic frowned slightly, "Why have you been fighting me anyways? I don't even know you."

Shadow raised an eyebrow as he began to drag the other behind him, was he stupid? "You're Prince Sonic, son of Queen Aleena and younger brother to Princess Sonia and Prince Manic. I'm from a kingdom at war with yours, we're supposed to fight."

"Who on Mobius are they?" Sonic asked confused, "I've been living with my friend Knuckles and sometimes with Mighty. I've never even heard of Aleena, Sonia, or Manic."

Faster than visible Prince Shadow turned and stared with shock at the blue prince, he had no idea who he was?


	6. Trouble

Hello, I think this may be the first time I've talked throughout the story. Sorry about the wait, the computer I'm using is in the living room and my brother (who's six and does NOT understand the concept of sharing!) has been hogging it since my mom bought him some new games. Then I've had a lot of homework and was at the chiropractors three days of last week. So I'm going to answer a few reviews ^_^

(Guest) Hannah: First off thank you so much for using a name instead of guest . And thank you so much for the positives. I feel special! If you need a hand with starting an account again you could ask me and I could explain. When I saw your review I wanted to jump back on the computer and start working on the next chap!"

werehogdog: Thank you

Nancy2013: Thanks, I don't plan on quitting this one.

Hestra Hassildor: Haha, yeah, thanks! I had this whole fluff scene written out, but then I figured, this doesn't seem realistic at all and I'm gonna chase a ton of people away… delete. Thank you though ^_^

BlueTogi12: Sorry it took so long to answer. Thank you for the complement and I going to try my darndest to get one chap up a week.

And cue story!

Sonic yawned and stretched as he walked outside, a red blanket wrapped around his shoulders to keep the early spring wind out of his fur. He let a frown fall on his face as he remembered waking up expecting to see Shadow who had promised to stay, only to find out that he had already disappeared by morning time.

After getting farther into the forest he let the blanket fall to the ground as he walked through the foliage.

Sitting down on a log he started to scratch his right arm. Glancing down when the itch didn't disappear he saw a green picture that looked like one of the sol emeralds he'd helped Blaze find in her world.

Deciding that it was too early in the morning to be bothered with another weird thing happening in his life he leaned back against the log and stared up at the blue sky, at least that was still the same.

Relaxing in the warm sun Sonic let emerald eyes close as he drifted off to sleep.

XXxxXX

Coming back slowly into the waking world Sonic laid on the ground with his eyes still closed as his ears twitched, every sound seemed to be very loud and the feral birds were singing their own songs. Groaning quietly as his body protested to its treatment and place of rest he sat up and stretched, sitting back on gloved hands staring towards a range of mountains in the distance. The sound of something metal being sharpened suddenly echoed loudly in the clearing as all the normal noise of the forest disappeared. He stood and spun in less than a second to see an almost exact look alike to Knuckles the Echidna.

"Great view isn't it?" He asked setting the knife he'd been sharpening in a sheath on his waist. The violet eyes and bright red fur were the same but there were large differences. He was wearing a belt around his waist with the sheath and a small bag hanging beneath it. Bandage-like cloths were wrapped around his two most forefront quills and he was wearing gloves that allowed you to see his fingers. A chuckle brought him away from his observations as he saw the echidna grinning at him. "You look like you've seen a ghost kid, ya haven't been gone that long yet. Don't tell me you're homesick already?"

Sonic grinned and placed a hand on his hip as he relaxed slightly, not completely though, "Maybe a tiny bit. It's only been a few days, but it feels like forever since I've been home. Don't tell me you don't get homesick on a few of your travels, Knux?"

Knuckles stared at him for a second before barking out a laugh and standing up with a large grin, "You still haven't grown up yet Sonic, guess it was a bit too much to expect that to happen in a few days." He grew serious as he walked over and set a large strong hand on the blue shoulder, gripping it with his fingers. "Still are they treating you okay kid? No one's been picking on you? Any surprises?"

_Besides waking up in a new world?_ He thought wryly. "Nah, they've been pretty cool. Found out I'm royalty though."

Knuckles froze and the grip on his shoulder tightened, "Oh, did you, Sonic?" He asked in an icy tone, "Come on, we're going to go talk to Queen Aleena than you're coming back to the island with me."

XXxxXX

"Where were you?" Shadow cursed silently as he turned his head to see Black Doom walk into the room. He had just arrived back to the castle after being spotted by Sonia and was climbing in by one of the many windows when his supposed father had walked in unannounced.

"I did some training in the field near the village and fell asleep when I stopped for a rest. When I woke again it was early morning and I didn't want to bother the guards." He said coolly as he climbed into the room completely and turned to face the king. Black Doom was slightly different; his maroon eyes were now a bright yellow and the black cape had been replaced by one which was red on the underside and black on the other, like most villains in old movies would wear.

Black Doom nodded, "Of course, I'm glad to here you've been practicing, your skills could use a little improvement if you're going to fight in the war, don't want you to get hurt…" He trailed off for a second leaving a slight undertone to his words before he started again, "I came to tell you that your friend Rouge was exiled yesterday evening. It was found that she was consorting with our enemies."

Shadow felt his muscles tense as a frown fell on his face, "How was this found?"

Black Doom sighed and sat on one of the few chairs in the room, "Many prisoners had been disappearing as of late so we left a spy in the dungeon disguised as a prisoner. Your friend came down with the keys and was releasing one when she was captured." He paused and frowned, "I expect perfect behavior from you Shadow, be wary of who you consort with. Despite being my son I will not tolerate this and with exile you as well. Do you understand?"

"Of course father." _Does hanging around the enemy's new 'advantage' and being friends with him count?_

* * *

Cliff-hanger, hanging from a cliff ^_^

how do you do musical notes?


	7. Liar, liar, crown on fire

TeamChaosHunters: Yeah he's a bit upset… and yes Sonic does still have the shard on him, in this chapter it gets explained a bit more.

Shade29: Thank you very much and here it is!

BlueTogi12: Thanks ^-^ Here's another chapter

0.o I just did a complete 180 in my story… shoot. Well let's see where this one leads us (because I actually have no clue where this is going. Comforting, right? Nah I have a slight idea of the end, but very small.) CUE STORY

"_What the hell were you thinking_?!"

Sonic winced as he heard the yell from inside the room. A few minutes ago he and Knuckles had arrived at the palace when Queen Aleena, his supposed mother, was living. Immediately Knuckles had pushed him down into a chair and told him that, no matter what, he was not to say a word to anybody. He sighed and slumped down in the padded chair, maybe it was a bad idea to tell Knuckles that he had found out he was royalty, what if the other Sonic had already known and he had blown his cover?

XXxxXX

"Don't talk to the queen like that!" A squirrel wearing a padded vest and carrying a spear yelled as he advanced.

Knuckles growled and held his fists out in front of him, "She isn't my queen!"

"At ease." Queen Aleena said as she stood. The queen was a light purple hedgehog with dark purple hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a white and gold dress and a crown with a purple jewel in the center.

"What on Mobius were you thinking?" Knuckles asked more calmly as he lowered his fist and stepped up, "Having your daughter tell Sonic that he was your son? You know what could have happened! What would have happened if he had once called you mom!"

"He seemed to readily agree to being part of the family." Queen Aleena stated with a smirk.

Knuckles ran a hand across his face before glaring at the queen, "That's because of what he is and you know it. I'm about ready to tell my clan to stop supporting you in the war. You asked for him to come because you wanted help, and now thanks to you he's forgotten almost everything! I'm leaving and taking Sonic with me. If you want him you have to get past me and my clan."

XXxxXX

Sonic stood as Knuckles walked out of the room and followed him, still not speaking a word even as he tried to get a song out of his head.

A few minutes later when they were out of the castle grounds Knuckles chuckled, "You can talk now…"

After grinning and pumping his fist Sonic cleared his throat before starting to sing under his breath, "Rolling around at the speed of sound

Got places to go

Gotta follow my rainbow

Can't stick around

Have to keep moving on" He trailed off into a hum under his breath as the song continued.

Knuckles snorted before pointing towards the right, "We'll find a place to camp for the night in the Dark Forest, then we're going to find a chaos user that can remove that shard from your skin."

Sonic lifted an eyebrow as they walked deeper in, "I thought I was supposed to be wearing it."

Knuckles shook his head, "No, the queen and her family are sorcerers, mostly good ones and we believed the queen was a good one, however she tricked you and used magic on you. That shard changes your mind and inhibits some of your powers, most everything she told you was a lie."

"So Sonia and Manic lied to me?"

"More so Sonia then Manic. They really were triplets once, there was another, but he didn't make it past birth. Sonia knew what her mother was planning and went along with it, while Manic had practically fooled himself into believing it, he wanted his brother back so badly."

Sonic hmmed and nodded before an idea came to him, "I know a chaos user that might be able to help. He visited me after I got the shard on and healed me."

"That explains why it's effects have been so slow, he may have neutralized it. What's his name?"

"Shadow, have you heard of him?"

Sonic turned to see Knuckles staring at him before a hand was clapped on his shoulder again, "I need you to tell me what's happened."

A twig cracked and both turned to see what had caused the disturbance, "Perhaps I can be a bit of help with that."

'It's official, I'm dead.' Sonic decided as he saw a familiar white bat come into view.

"Rouge? What are you doing here?" Knuckles asked as he removed his hand from Sonic's shoulder and walked over to the bat giving her a quick hug, "What if you get caught?"

"By who?" She asked with a sad smile, "I was caught rescuing prisoners from the dungeon, I'm in exile. Now you were saying something about Shadow, I'm one of his friends so maybe I can assist."

"Great!" Sonic said with a grin, "Any clue on how to get a hold of him? Got a cell phone or something?"

"A what?"

Sonic groaned and placed his head into his hands. This might take awhile.

XXxxXX

"A joust?" Sonic asked as he wrapped his hands tighter around the warm tin in his hands. After attempting to explain what a cell phone was only for Knuckles to write it off as an effect of the shard the three of them had set up a fire and made some soup for dinner.

Rouge nodded, "Every year Black Doom hosts a jousting contest, no one knows what you look like so I believe it would be best to send you in. Even if you can't fight you can get Shadow away from everyone and ask him to help you."

Sonic studied the brown liquid in his hands before looking back up with a smirk, "All right then. Bring it on!"


	8. a plot to save a life

From now on I'll only be address comments of people that don't have accounts on here and at the bottom. Everyone else will get a PM back. I managed to make this chapter longer ^_^ you guys should be happy I accidentally stitched my finger in crafts class (do you know how hard it was and is to type this!) and I've got a horrible stomach flu. On a happier note I finally got to a scene I've been trying to for a long time ^_^ CUE STORY

Shadow stared at the dark blade in his hands without interest as the knight Black Doom had 'hired' (See: Threatened) to help him spoke of the basics of how to use a sword and how to fight with it. It had been four days since had he arrived in this strange dimension with Sonic and three since Rouge had been sent away and he had found himself on his own in the castle. A loud zing caught his attention and he looked up to see the knight standing with clad feet apart and the sword he was holding facing towards him.

"Did you not hear me?" The knight asked as he look up, "I said it is now time to practice. Your father has informed me that you must be the best by noon tomorrow when the joust begins."

The black hedgehog offered a glare towards the other before standing and copying the stance, the blade in his hands seeming foreboding and heavy. He nodded to show that he was ready, after all if a copy of Silver could do it there was no reason he couldn't.

A few minutes later found Silver standing over him with a sword at his neck before nodding and letting the other up, "Not bad for a beginner. Let's try again."

XXxxXX

"Perry! Thrust! Back! Block! Repeat!"

Sonic completed every command shouted towards him as the silver sword in his hand clashed with the thinner one his opponent was holding. Suddenly the sword slashed down towards him and no commands were yelled. Clutching the sword with both hands he raised it towards the sky and winced as it sent shockwaves traveling through both swords into his arms. The opponent's sword began to glow a light orange as it heated to a higher temperature and he pushed back before suddenly spinning to the left sliding his blade along the heated edge. Without time to right the position the knight was suddenly found it a double-bladed sword suddenly appeared at the neck where there was a chink in the armor.

Sonic smirked lightly, "Yield."

"I yield." His opponent repeated getting up once allowed to reveal a purple cat with golden eyes and a red jewel on her forehead. She glanced over to where Knuckles and Rouge were watching the fight and smirked, copying the other, "I am unaware as to why you requested me to come and train your comrade. It seems to me as if he could best many proud knights easily." Her eyes wandered back over to the green-eyed hedgehog, "Do not allow that to go to your head though, many that do often do not get to see the next sunrise."

"That's a pity. I hear it's always beautiful the day before you almost die." He answered back as he sat on the ground and began rubbing the sword down with a clump of moss.

"Why do you say that?" Rouge asked her wings flaring before folding in.

Sonic glanced up before snorting slightly and going back to cleaning his sword, "I'm entering a contest with the world's best sword fighters and a magic gemstone limiting my powers, not to mention we're rely on the idea that ol' Doomy doesn't know what I look like yet."

"When you say it like that it sounds like we're sending you to Death's door." Knuckles said, speaking quietly.

Sonic grinned up at the awkward looking echidna and winked, "I was thinking something more along the lines of twenty feet away from it."

Blaze gave a small smile and shook her head, "Jests aside, Sonic does still need a title to go by to enter the contest. Do you have a King or Master?" She asked directing the last part at the hedgehog.

His lips twirked as he remembered something he had once said, something that felt like a lifetime ago, "My only master is the wind that blows free!"

Blaze chuckled and placed her saber on each peach shoulder, "Then I dub you, Knight of the Wind, Sir Sonic."

XXxxXX

"P-prince Shadow." A quiet voice said. He turned to see who had come in still feeling strange in the armor one of the maids had placed him in. One of the servants was standing silently at the door until he was seen, "The king has told me to inform you that the joust is to begin soon and you are supposed to make haste to the courtyard."

Shadow nodded and watched as the servant scurried away.

XxX

Very few fighters had shown up contrasting greatly with the multitude of citizens that had come to watch the fights. No humans could be seen, but the crude benches and stands that had been set up were stocked with Mobians of all kinds and ages.

Black Doom himself was standing in a large box twenty feet away from the rim, while Shadow was standing outside of his wearing the armor and the sword at his side.

Silver had gone into the ring first and dueled against a green bird in bronze colored armor before being declared the winner. A thing figure had then rose up to the challenge and bested the white hedgehog in a matter of minutes.

His turn had come up after leading him to fight with the purple cat for around fifteen to twenty minutes before the saber slipped and the cat was down.

His guard didn't go down as everyone took a break and he sat down on a bench. He had seen how good the cat could fight and a good knight did not _let go_ of their sword.

Speaking of… he thought as the knight walked over to him Silver watching from a distance.

"You forfeited." He said quietly covering the action by taking a drink of water.

"So I did. And I have good reason as well."

"Oh?"

"After the fight…" Her voice took on a desperate note, "No matter who wins you need to speak with the knight. He is entering this joust simply to speak with you."

She walked away without another word her tail swinging behind her as Black Doom called for the next fight.

He entered the ring and froze. In front of him someone had just removed a dark brown cloak and handed it to another unidentifiable figure.

The first then stepped up and placed on hand on the duel-edged sword at his waist. He was wearing a loose light-brown shirt that had a brown strap at his waist from which the sword hung. Black bands circled around many of his quills and dark brown gloved covered his hands. His fur was a dark blue and looked as if it had been dragged through the dirt or mud a few times, emerald green eyes caught his attention as they glinted and the hedgehog owning them smirked.

Shadow may have been dressed for war, but his counterpart looked dressed to kill.


	9. Knight of the Wind

I'm back from Westport! And have been given an english writing paper. I'm doing it on Sir Percival (the real one) but I keep having to go back and write he and him because I keep thinking of Blaze as Percival. Heh

Thanks to everyone that reviewed here's my second longest chapter. I kinda sucked at the fight scene, sorry!

* * *

Okay maybe not dressed to kill. Shadow amended as he glanced up and down at the figure in front of him for a second time as Black Doom began to speak like he had before every other match. While he wasn't dressed as if he was going to kill someone, it certainly would be easier for him to sneak up on someone and do it than it would for him, the only metal the blue hedgehog was wearing was a metal gauntlet around his hand.

"This will be the last fight of the day." Black Doom's voice filtered in through his thoughts as his black ears caught the words at just the right time, "Whoever wins this fight will be awarded knighthood."

Shadow looked back over at his counterpart and was surprised for the second time that day. The blue one was bent forward slightly, leaning on his sword while keeping emerald green eyes focused on him only. Seeing him watching he winked, just as a horn was blown for the match began.

Almost immediately Sonic rushed up and aimed a hit with the flat of his sword only to be blocked by Shadow's own.

"Didn't expect to see you here." Shadow whispered as he applied the same amount of force back, making it appear to be a match of strength when they were simply standing there.

"I need your help and it was the only way we could figure out." Sonic whispered back with a faint grin, "I need to talk to ya after the fight. Speaking of which, we may want to start."

Shadow gave a small nod and both withdrew their swords to begin circling each other as they searched for a weak spot. Sonic feinted a strike to the ribs only to suddenly move his sword up to try to strike the chest.

Shadow blocked the move quickly and moved back with a smirk. Unlike Sonic he had relied on strength most of his life a figured that if he could get a good strong blow in, or a real shoving match he could win.

He moved over to Sonic and made to strike him in the middle of his back before he could turn, only to have his target suddenly spin towards the left making him cut through empty space. A silent agreement had formed between them to not use their speed for fear that Black Doom or someone would catch onto them.

A few minutes later they were caught in a real shoving match. The sound of metal scraping against metal sounded in their ears as Shadow slowly, but surely shoved Sonic's sword back along with the hedgehog until a grey heel suddenly met with a rock and he fell backwards.

Shadow smirked showing his fangs as he lowered his sword to a blue neck to tell Sonic to surrender. The shocked look on his face made him believe he had won for a few seconds before a sneaker hooked around his ankle and he found himself staring at a grey sword leading up to a smirking hedgehog.

"Surrender." Sonic said quietly as the smirk disappeared to be replaced by a serious expression, "Please, I'm not sure if I can last much longer. I need help."

Shadow stared for a few seconds before nodding, "I surrender." He said loudly so that everyone could hear him.

Right after Sonic stepped back and leaned slightly on his sword as he took a couple deep breaths while Shadow stood.

Black Doom glared for a second before it disappeared, invisible to the normal eye but not to the red ones watching him, and he waved for silence, "Please come up here knight." He said.

Sonic sheathed his sword and got his breathing back under control as he walked up to the platform. Now he wasn't twenty feet from death's door as he had told Knuckles. Now he was two feet from one of the few people that could probably send him there.

"What is your name and who is your master?" Black Doom asked as he took a sword from one of the guards.

A smirk found its way onto his face despite the throbbing that had appeared in his arm halfway through the fight, the same area where a green mark was covered by his sleeve. "My name is Sonic the Hedgehog, and my only master is the wind that blows free!"

His neutral expression was replaced by a sly smile as he glanced down at the hedgehog that was half a foot shorter than him, "Then I would like to make you one of my knights and the general of part of my army."

"Sorry, King, can't. I've gotta find a way to get back home and I just came here to try my luck."

"It is a very good offer…" Black Doom said quietly, "And you would be a great soldier. You aren't planning to fight with Queen Aleena are you?"

Before he could help it his quills bristled and one hand had moved to just beneath his shoulder, "No, I only fall for a trick once."

"Then it's a good thing I'm the first one to try this trick." A girl's voice said as a sword suddenly appeared underneath his neck, "Now your majesty I'd suggest you let the boy come with us or he will be useless to everyone in a few seconds." He held still as the words were said, a strange cold heat came from the sword.

"No one try to stop us or both of them will suffer the consequences." Another said.

Black Doom glared but made no attempt to stop the kidnappers as he was led away. A blindfold was tied around his head and he was placed on a horse as soon as they had gotten away from the crowd with someone climbing on fluidly behind him.

"Sonic?!"

Hearing Shadow he turned his head to the left where the noise had come from, "I'm here Shadow. You okay?"

"Fine, you?"

"As good as I can be."

XXxxXX

What seemed like hours later to both kidnapped hedgehogs the horses stopped and the person behind him dismounted, helping him down as well. A thud and some giggles told him that no one had helped Shadow.

"Amelia!" The person behind him snapped angrily, "Don't be cruel. You're here to help."

"I don't like him though." The girl whined.

Sonic tensed as he finally recognized the voice, it was one of the first he'd heard after he'd woken up, "Amanda!?"

"Yep, it's me."

"I'm back in Queen Aleena's kingdom!?" Sonic shouted as he spun away from the two kidnappers.

"Calm down hun, calm down." His arms were seized and the blindfold was pulled away for him to see that he was in what looked like a war camp, "We're at the echidna's camp. I'm sorry for kidnapping you, but we couldn't let Black Doom know what was going on."

The female who had taken him was a dark orange echidna wearing black and silver with black bands around her quills, not completely enclosing them like his did though, "I'm Shade, Knuckles' sister."

"Could you let Shadow see and have her get the sword away from him?" Sonic asked glancing at his black and red friend.

"Of course. Amelia Hedgehog! If you don't step away from him this instant I will let the Athier deal with you!"

Immediately the pink hedgehog moved away as if burned and settled for glaring at him from a distance.

Shade walked over and pulled the blindfold off, only for Shadow to immediately disappear and reappear standing in front of Sonic.

Shade chuckled and shook her head, "Follow me you two. You both need some food and Sonic can explain his predicament over dinner."

They followed behind, Shadow glaring at everyone and keeping close to and just in front of the blue hedgehog, both swords had been abandoned at the court.

Sonic meanwhile watched everything with wide open eyes as they passed by a blacksmith's cart and an outside school where children of all types, mostly echidnas, watched as an older black cat drew symbols on the board behind her.

They got to the campfire and took a seat as food was passed around, Sonic selecting mostly fruits before adding what looked like chicken at the last second. When Shadow took nothing he rolled his eyes and dumped the same food onto his plate.

"You said Sonic had a predicament. What kind?" Shadow asked once the four of them had their plates full.

"Remember the last time you say me?" A nod urged him to continue, "Queen Aleena and Princess Sonia had tricked me. I believed that I was the queen's son and did what I was told." He took a deep breath a pulled up one sleeve. A green rectangle with what appeared to be green cracks spreading away from it rested below his right shoulder. "It inhibits most of my powers and it's been making me sick. That's what I was talking about at the fight. I was feeling horrible."

Shadow froze and stared for a few seconds, his first friend had gotten sick and died, was Sonic going to also, and why did he think he could help?

"What can I do about it?"

"Knuckles said a chaos user could get it out and I mentioned you."

Shadow took a breath through his nose and pushed it out through his mouth before nodding and turning towards Shade, "I need a tent and a bed. I can get it out but he needs to be lying down."

Shade nodded, "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Hannah: Sorry, it's my habit to thank people and you're being really nice so... I'd feel rude if I didn't thank people for reviewing. Just cause your sister doesn't like your story doesn't mean it was bad. You should have seen mine when I first started. They were terrible! I started in script form with bad grammar in the wordgirl section (this was quite a few years ago! I was like eight or nine I don't watch it anymore!) and I'm pretty sure that I broke the word correct on our family computer a could of times ^^ I didn't stop and now I'm here. Keep going, like I said if you want I can lend a hand


	10. The beginning of the end

"Where's Sonic?" Shade called back as she walked back towards the tent with a few blankets.

Shadow appeared behind her, "Back at the tent. There are a few more items I need and I didn't want him to hear." Shade nodded to show she was listening, "I need a knife, some sort of blindfold, and something to gag him."

"Gag?"

"I'll have to cut the stone out then heal his arm, neither of those will be the most comfortable."

Shadow took the blankets from Shade and continued towards the tent. The flap opened easily and he looked in to see Sonic standing near one of the walls holding onto his arm with one hand.

"I brought some blankets. You'll have to use these I suppose."

Sonic looked up and chuckled, "Better than the ground. Is everything you need here?"

"It is now." Shade said as she walked in and handed Shadow the last three items before leaving.

Shadow turned towards Sonic and took a deep breath, this was one thing he defiantly wouldn't like, "I need you to bite down on this cloth."

"What's the other for?"

"It's hurt less if you can't see."

Sonic took a deep breath and nodded taking the folded cloth as he sat down before biting down on the fabric, his small fangs creating tiny holes. Shadow circled him until he was behind where he kneeled down and carefully pulled the other cloth around his head so that bright emerald eyes were covered, before knotting it in the back. The blue hedgehog next to him took a deep breath as Shadow got the knife and slashed just above the gem drawing blood with it.

With his own deep breath Shadow grasped the peach arm and dug his fingers into the wound, gloves discarded sometime earlier, wincing as a loud gasp met his ears.

"Shh, I'm trying to do this as quickly as possible."

Sonic mumbled something unintelligible through the gag.

"Try to find something to distract yourself." Shadow replied back as he managed to grasp the green gem and slowly began to pull it out. His own grip and concentration were almost lost when a peach muzzle buried itself between his neck and shoulder blades, "Sonic?"

He needed something to distract himself and Shadow was the only one close enough.

The gem was finally pulled out with a sickening squelch as Sonic tensed and let a small whimper out. Shadow grabbed onto the other's thin waist to hold him still as he placed his other hand over the wound.

As he had expected Sonic suddenly became almost as lively as a fish on land. His legs shot out as if to kick an attacker and he clung tighter to Shadow as a green glow came from the black hedgehog's hand.

He stopped and Sonic fell still with one last shudder. Quickly he pulled the gag out and rubbed the knot of the blindfold over blue quills, untangling it from the mess as he did so.

Bright emerald eyes, glimmering in the low light coming into the tent stared back at him as a small smile appeared on Sonic's face, "Thanks, pal."

Shadow stared for a second himself before also giving a small grin, "It wasn't a problem. Just try not to get cursed again."

A chuckle broke away from him as he slowly stood, being careful not to use his still damaged arm, "Sure, Shads, I'll… try-"

Shadow quickly stuck his arms out as his rival suddenly collapsed, blue eye lids closed and dead to the world.

XXxxXX

"Are you alright?"

Spinning around quickly a small blue hedgehog with bright green eyes stared at the person in front of him as the question was repeated. The other was a light blue-gray echidna with his own yellow-green eyes.

"…Fine." He finally replied after watching for a little while longer. The other had no weapon besides the spikes on his knuckles.

"What're you doing out here alone, young one? Who are you?" The echidna asked gently as he came closer.

"I-I don't have a name." The hedgehog finally answered, "The villages all make me leave, they don't want me around."

"What happens?" The echidna asked softly as he came even closer.

"They see my eyes, the children run and the adults run out and chase me away." He said as he shifted from one foot to another and fidgeted with his hands.

"How about you come with me and we can find you a name." The echidna suggested as he held out his hand, palm to the sky.

The hedgehog stared for a few seconds before nodding and taking the offered hand, "What's your name?"

"For now you may call me Kane. You will learn my name later." The echidna said as he led the hedgehog away from the forest and towards where a large meadow was in the distance, with mountains leading off into the sky.

XXxxXX

"Tails?" A pink hedgehog wearing a red dress with white trimming asked as she stepped up the stairs and into a house, "Are you here?"

"We're upstairs, Amy!" A young voice called back.

She quickly climbed the stairs and hurried towards the end of the hall. One door was open and she slowed down as she went past it. A sign proclaimed that the room belonged to her older blue friend, yet the room was surprising. There was a hammock hanging near a large window that had a seat underneath it, purple pillows and a strange woven blanket she had created years ago resting on it.

The floor was wooden boards with a brown rug stretched over, the carpet was missing in one corner of the room were wood shavings and a few carving tools could be seen. A long, low bookshelf almost covered half of one of the walls and was just as filled with books.

Forgetting her manners for a minute, she went to enter, only to be called away by the same young voice as before. Remembering her job she continued to the end of the hall and opened the door. A simple bed with red sheets in a wooden frame decorated with carvings sat hunkered in one corner of the room, while the rest of most of it was littered with tools and papers, a desk resting against one of the walls was one of the cleanest, with only one large strange contraption and a small fox leaning over it, diligently pecking at the keys.

"Hey, Amy." He said giving a one handed backwards wave before resuming his work.

"What are you doing, Tails?" She asked, picking and choosing her way as she darted through the papers and tools as she made her way over.

"For a few days now there's been a breakout of fights, arguments, lawsuits, the like… between humans and Mobians. The last time tensions were this high were after the Great War."

Despite herself Amy shivered at the last words. The Great War had raged on Mobius for a decade, the longest lasting war on the planet yet, and had been a war between species. Humans and Mobians had fought to the death for years for no known reason. It had become a sort of taboo to mention the horrible time.

"What do we do then?" She asked as she rubbed her arms to rid them of goose bumps.

"Nothing for now." Tails said as he closed the machine, which seemed to be a computer, and spun in his chair to face her, "'Cept keep an eye on stuff. What' ere you doing here?"

"I came to ask if you've seen Sonic. He'd told Rouge he would help out with music at her club, but never showed up."

Tails frowned and sat up straighter, "I assumed he was spending the night at Rouge's house since he was training with Shadow. You haven't seen him?"

"Nope."

Tails' frown deepened and he looked out the window, "That's not good. If things get worse and he doesn't show up soon…" Suddenly he jumped up and ran out the door towards the stairs, "Come on, Amy! We need to find him. Fast!"

Hannah: Yeah I try not to do OC's, there are a few too many in the sonic fandom. If I have an OC in the fic they most likely will not be named. Thanks for reviewing again ^_^


	11. Echoes of the Past pt 1

'History doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme.' -Mark Twain

* * *

He opened his eyes slowly and focused on the ceiling as the strange scene in his dream played out in his mind again. Slowly he let out a long shaky breath before sitting up with a chuckle, "I've gotta stop passing out." After looking around and seeing that no one was in the tent with him he rolled off the blankets onto the dirt and stood, stretching his arms as he did.

Remembering why he was there in the first place he pulled his arm back down and looked at where the stone had been. Now only a thin, straight scar remained in its place with no pain, Shadow had done a good job.

A blue ear twitched and turned as its owner heard a strange noise near where he suspected the edge of the camp was, before the blue hedgehog shrugged and dug around in the blankets for his own clothing and walked outside, gloveless since he couldn't find them.

The same sound echoed again and he gasped in surprise as the smell of ozone hit him full force, practically intoxicating the speed loving hedgehog with the same smell he managed to find every time he ran past the sound barrier.

The sound of something clanging against metal accompanied by a roar suddenly reached his ears and he rushed towards the sound, sliding to a full halt at what he saw.

Bouncing off trees and around the area was a golden light that echidnas were trying to slash down with swords or arrows, some even (like Knuckles) with their bare hands. Shadow was there as well dodging everything and trying to get a good hit in at the light.

'A thunder dragon', Sonic thought, as he stood hidden behind a bush watching the others fight the creature. He knew that if he went into view the others would expect him to fight and he just _couldn't_. When he'd been in Camelot running through another dragon's cave to free the villagers, a thunder dragon had continuously shown up and assisted him in getting across gaps.

A loud shriek echoed through the air as the light from the dragon suddenly disappeared into the forest and a cheer went up.

Silently he crept closer to where Shadow was talking with Knuckles.

"… been showing up at the borders for the past month. It disappeared for a few days then returned. Between keeping that beast out of the camp and getting ready to fight we're being run ragged."

Having heard what he wanted Sonic dashed off into the forest after the dragon.

XXxxXX

"I WANT THOSE TWO FOUND NOW!" A taller black and maroon hedgehog bellowed as a purple and white wolf walked into the throne room while the servant being yelled at ducked out of the way of a cup the king had thrown and disappeared.

The wolf was wearing a brown hat along with a matching vest and carrying a crossbow over his shoulder. Cold blue eyes watched while fangs peeked out over his bottom lip.

"That's why I'm here your Majesty. Fang the Sniper at your business."

"I don't want them killed." Black Doom hissed angrily. He grown an extra two feet since his son and the strange knight had disappeared from the camp and a slit rested on his forehead above and between his eyes. "They were kidnapped."

"I'm a bounty hunter as well." Fang said simply, "My arrows are laced with spider venom, just enough to knock someone out. That is why you sent for me."

Black Doom leaned forward with a suspicious look, "I never sent for you."

"You were about ta." He said with a grin as poisonous as his arrows, "According to what my friend heard through Hive Mind."

Black Doom raised his eyebrows before sitting back with a smirk, "Say I did hire you. What would you do to the kidnappers?"

The poisonous grin disappeared to be replaced by a large smirk, "Have you ever heard what happens when a body gets a full blast of cobra venom, your Majesty?"

XXxxXX

Branches and brambles scraped his unprotected body, except for where the rough shirt he'd worn to the fight covered him, as he shoved his way through the thick forest. "Hello?" It was a weak hope to call for a scared feral creature, and a dangerous one depending on whether any other feral predators were out. Yet despite the chances a strange noise, like a whimper, caught his attention and he headed towards it.

Resting on the forest floor was a creature about as long as he was tall that reminded him slightly of how Tails had described his drill form when they'd rescued the wisps, and a feral lion. A long red cut went from its foreleg to the top of its back in a diagonal pattern.

"Hello." Sonic said quietly, using the same voice as he did when he found a small child that'd been hurt or lost. "My name's Sonic. I'm going to try to help you, alright?" Practically pointless to talk to a feral, he knew, but he'd done it as long as he could remember and they seemed to understand him. Carefully he ran his bare fingers over the golden fur next to the cut, being cautious about his small claws.

"I met a Thunder Dragon before, a few years back. He helped me to rescue some people, never saw what he looked like when he wasn't moving though." Ancient brown eyes stared back at him as he gently felt for any other injuries and mumbled words to the creature. "Alright I need something to wrap this with…" He searched around for a few minutes before remembering his shirt. Quickly he pulled it off a proceeded to rip it apart. "It's a bit uncomfortable, but it's all I have right now." Sonic told the creature as he wrapped the slit. "This should help it heal faster."

The sun was setting now, it seemed as if time had passed faster while he was helping the dragon, and his energy was still sapped from when Shadow healed him. He slowly sat down and leaned against the dragon's golden fur, his eyes closing as he fell to sleep despite his intentions.

XXxxXX

"Hello."

He looked up to see a light brown squirrel wearing a light blue vest, she appeared to be about the same age as him. Staying silent he nodded as his own greeting and turned back to watching the street. Where was he…?

"I've never seen fur that color before, did you use berries to dye it?"

Quickly he scuttled away from where her curious brown fingers had started touching his ear. "I was born with it." He muttered.

She nodded, "Right, sorry. What are you doing here anyways? I've never seen you and young children are not supposed to be out by themselves."

"You're out by yourself." He pointed out leaning against the wall behind him and peering at her with one green eye, "Unless your caretaker is a chamelion."

She blushed and stared down at her hands, "I tricked him and left him behind at the market, I've gotten tired of my father treating me as if I am a flower."

He nodded and grinned, "I've heard of that happening. And as for your earlier question, I am simply passing through with Kane. He's getting food at the market right now."

"Kane?" The squirrel asked leaning forward, "Who's he?"

He shrugged, "I don't know yet. At the moment I am his apprentice."

"There you are." A louder, older voice said. Both youth looked up to see a gray-blue echidna with a coyote wearing a blue uniform behind him. "Miss Acorn, your caretaker has been searching for you."

The squirrel sighed and walked over to the coyote, she turned to wave at the hedgehog before following after him.

The hedgehog stood and followed as Kane walked towards the gates of the town, "How did you know she was with me?"

He smiled and tossed the hedgehog an apple, "Just a guess. You seem to draw people to you."

"If you ask me I seem to push them away." The hedgehog mumbled as he turned the apple in his hands.

Kane glanced at the boy before turning his attention to the road, "I have not seen that happen once. Even the dragon we found a few weeks back took a fancy to you. You are good to have along."

The hedgehog smiled before biting into the apple, "Thanks, Kane."

"There they are!" Both hedgehog and echidna turned once the loud exclamation met their ears. About thirty guards were running towards them with both swords and spears at the ready. A loud clang sounded behind them as more managed to get the gates closed.

One of the guards walked up to them and unrolled a scroll, "In the name of King Acorn you are to come to the palace immediately, or face execution."

XXxxXX

Something was pushing him. That was one of the first things he realized as the dream faded. There was no echidna or guards and the only thing around besides him was a golden dragon.

"Alright." He muttered as he turned, "I'm up, what'd you want?"

Another strange whimper met his ears and Sonic frowned, standing to see if the wound had reopened.

"There he is!" He spun faster than the eye could see to spot a squirrel-like Mobian rushing towards him with large feral dogs racing ahead.


End file.
